Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"Funny old world? Dog my cats!"

1997 PG / Mystery Thriller Directed by: David Mamet Starring: Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon

Tagline

It's the oldest con in the book.

Summary Capsule

Boy Scout genius gets taken through a walk in Deception Woods.

Mutant Meter

Movie Store [proceeds go toward monthly MRFH upkeep]

Amazon.com: DVD

Justin's Rating: Process THIS, baby!
Justin's Review: The other weekend I was enjoying some sort of viral infection in my body, along with a 100+ degree fever and a farm of phlegm. The nutty guy I am, I still went out and had dinner at a friend's house, after which we went to rent a few videos. They pulled The Spanish Prisoner from the shelves on a vague recommendation from me that "I heard someone say that their friend saw it and said it was good." In my mind, this slow-looking film was catagorized as "I'll Rent It When I'm Running A Fever And Can Hardly Concentrate On My Sinuses, Never Mind A Complex Film." God smiles, they sit down, I slump into a near-coma, and we watch this movie.

"Bottom line: this movie outsmarted me and I loved it."

As I thought, the first 45 minutes or so of The Spanish Prisoner plod along like a really boring David Lynch flick. There's this Joe guy (Campbell Scott) who creates a "Process" (which we never learn what it's for) that will make his company a "considerable sum" (which we never see). Because of this, Joe attains a nice big fat bulls-eye on his chest, and we know something's going to happen. There's a lot of shifty people he comes into contact with and a lot of visual clues along with plenty of those tasty red herrings. Finally, something does happen, and Joe struggles to figure out how he's been conned and how to retrieve his lost fortune.

Since you know that this is a film in the "mindscrew" arena, from the start you're cataloging clues even though the mystery even hasn't taken place yet. Unlike Wild Things, The Spanish Prisoner doesn't just twist the plot unexpectedly to throw you off. If you're very careful and observant, you may be able to figure out the plot before Joe does. I didn't, but then I'm out of college now.

Though slow, there's enough to see while waiting for the action to make it worth your while. Joe is an unusual hero for these types of movies; he's a genuinely nice person protecting his interests. As he's pushed to breaking point, he never quite loses control of his senses (and thus, we're given hope). The other characters in this play include his verbose and oversexed secretary Susan (Rebecca Pidgeon), a complex businessman named Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin, who handles this character with a deft and subdued hand), and Joe's friend George (Ricky Jay), who likes to quote people a lot. Visuals and music cues are equally well thought-out and put into the background so that you notice them, but they don't demand your full attention.

Bottom line: this movie outsmarted me and I loved it. For us movie-plot-predicters, we are second-guessed long before we see this movie, and only the brave survive. It definitely demands more than one viewing.

SPRING BREAK, BABY, WOOO! He's still The Jerk, just in a different way. "My, that is some fascinating tweed you're sporting there."

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• There's a lot of similarities to The Water Engine, a made for TV movie also written by David Mamet in which an inventor creates something special which he is paranoid (rightfully so) about maintaining the rights to (unsuccessfully, in both cases.)
• George Lang's line "Beware of all enterprises which require new clothes" is by Thoreau ("Economy" chapter of Walden).
• When he is hung over, George Lang says, "I put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains." The line is a close paraphrase of one from Shakespeare's "Othello": "I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains."

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

No.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

What is The Spanish Prisoner? "It is the oldest confidence game on the books. The Spanish Prisoner... Fellow says, him and his sister, wealthy refugees, left a fortune in the Home Country, he got out, girl and the money stuck in Spain. Here is her most beautiful portrait. And he needs money to get her and the fortune out. Man who supplies the money gets the fortune and the girl. Oldest con in the world."

The main character's name is Joseph, and he invents a "process." In Kafka's "Der Prozess" (English title: The Trial), the main character, Joseph, is also framed, and nothing is what it seems.

Groovy Quotes

Susan: It shows to go you, you never know who anybody is.

Joe: Funny old world.
Susan: Funny old world? Dog my cats!
Joe: Dog my cats indeed.

Susan: You never know who anybody is, except me. I am who I am.

George: Worry is like interest paid in advance on a debt that never comes due.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• The Usual Suspects
• The Game
• Wild Things